We just had great Indigitous hackathon events in 42 cities worldwide. This was the third time Indigitous hosted a global collaboration to create locally relevant digital tools and solutions to help fulfill the Great Commission.
My friend Russ Martin and I had the privilege to be at two African locations, Lagos and Accra, with a vibrant, smart Indigitous tribe. Collectively, these two cities worked on eight locally relevant projects.
Russ and I encouraged participants on casting vision for Indigitous communities in West Africa, teamwork, and leadership skills as well as praying together for God to move. We know that there is no digital mission without the Power of the Holy Spirit, just like Bezalel and Oholiab were anointed by God to do some creative innovation way back in the Old Testament (Exodus 36:1-2).
These were some of the projects we worked on during the weekend in those two locations.
- Great Commission Prayer Project
- State of the gospel in Northern Ghana
- mDisciplesihp APP
- Event Management Platform
- Bible Gaming Web App
- Walking with Jesus App
In both places the local ownership for the Indigitous vision is very high. We had tech business leaders who are interested in funding Indigitous communities in Lagos, whereas in Accra a young entrepreneur Ebenezer offered his office workspace for the Indigitous #HACK venue free of charge.
Another highlight was spending time with David in Accra, who is the executive director of the Institute of ICT Ghana. David, after working for Ericsson and traveling throughout Africa, saw the huge need for skillful African talent to match the rapid explosion of ICT and telecom infrastructure. The institute has 600 members in Ghana alone and are on the way of greater expansion.
On top of that, we enjoyed new cultural experiences. We operated in an “African time,” where time feels plenty, which was not new to me at all. I learned that Ghanaian lifestyle is easy-going and friendly. In Accra, when you ask someone, “How are you,” you might get a response back saying, “I am shining.” In Lagos, Nigeria, a normal greeting conversation begins with a phrase like “how far?” And you respond back, “How far?” This is a casual greeting to say “how are you,” and does not actually have anything to do with distance.
During our strategic meetings with tech business leaders and church pastors in Lagos, all of us agreed that Lagos is a place with so much potential and challenges in breaking the iceberg of Digital Mission in Sub-Saharan Africa.
I was humbled by God showing me the fruit of many years’ ministry labor by connecting me with two disciples who came to know the Lord on one of our evangelistic websites. Isaac was a high school student in a small town with so many challenges, but he used his simple phone to make the ultimate life decision of knowing God personally. I first ministered to him in 2013. Now he is a first year university student. I had a 20-minute call with him and a coworker in Ghana and we encouraged Isaac to continue his walk with the Lord and his schooling.
Comfort is a fresh graduate from college and she came to know Jesus online just like Isaac. She has been involved in previous Indigitous events in Accra. She is now an active volunteer leader in student ministry and digital ministry.
For now, let me end here and greet you again…
How far?